The Serpent and the Phantom
by Catnip Witch
Summary: Nagisa graduated from the Assassination classroom and now it's time for high school. But the past year left a great mark behind. So what will happen when Rio and Ryota arrange the meeting of two too similar bluenettes? Tetsuya's eyes speak volumes. If only those doors to that past would have stayed shut forever.
1. Chapter 1

**1\. Chapter:**

 **The one where it starts**

* * *

 _3 hours after midnight. Everything was quiet. Too quiet. Nagisa Shiota stared blankly at the ceiling of his room before shooting a glare at the clock._

 _'No way I'm gonna sleep now.'_

 _The boy stood up moving his body to the window. There he placed his hand on cold glass admiring the crescent moon._

 _He was actually quite tired but no matter how much he wanted he just couldn't fall asleep. There was too many thoughts occupying his mind to allow him to sleep. There was too many thoughts to allow him to stood still in one place as well._

 _After a while he stepped away from the window and left his room. He was careful not to make any noise and tiptoed to the kitchen. His mother wasn't the one you would want to wake up in the middle of the night._

 _Nagisa was rather proud of his eyes which could accommodate even to the darkest of places in the night. There was no need to turn on the lights._

 _He didn't know why but he found himself taking a kitchen knife. He held it tightly in one hand, the flashbacks of previous day flooding his mind._

 _It was different holding a real knife in his hand. He had already suspected that it wouldn't be the same. But the actual feeling differed from his expectations greatly._

 _He didn't understand his emotions at all. When Karasuma-sensei handed him the knife earlier, something in him twitched._

 _When he wielded it against Takaoka-sensei he wasn't holding back. He didn't hesitate. He went for the kill exactly as his teacher told him to do. He had no doubts the man would dodge the attack yet he wouldn't really mind stabbing him. He attacked to kill after all._

 _He didn't really think about it at that moment. All of his movements were logical. All well planned. But he didn't really plan them. He just somehow naturally moved as his instincts were telling him. In that moment everything seemed to be so simple. He just had to kill._

 _The boy slashed the air with the knife. It was a little bit heavier than the knifes he was used to but that just suited him. Shivers ran down his spine filling him with excitement. The same one he felt after placing the back of the knife to Takaoka's throat. But back then he had to held back. He went against his instincts. If he had listened to them he would have finished off the teacher in one quick move._

 _A smile crept on the boy's lips. His heart was pounding his breathing accelerating. What was that kind of feeling? He returned the knife to it's place and went back to his room. He sat himself on the floor looking through the window at the moon again._

 _'I'm just happy that Karasuma-sensei picked me. That he trusted me. And that I didn't disappoint him. That's all.'_

* * *

"Nagisa! You are going to be late!"

The boy was long awake yet he stayed in his bed staring at the ceiling. He had no idea why he remembered something that happened almost a year ago. But it was not like it was the first time.

Ever since he killed Koro-sensei the memories of that night after his first fight with Takaoka kept flashing in front of his eyes. He should have realize it back then. He should have noticed. He loved assassination. The feeling of the knife in his hand and the feeling of shoving it into the heart of his target.

The face of the yellow octopus formed inside his mind. Even now he felt that bitter-sweet feeling that came with his assassination. He liked it. He liked it a lot. He wanted more. He needed another target. But even though he knew that, even though he was craving, he still pushed his feelings away to go get himself ready to school as if he was any normal student. In the end, that was all he could do.

"Oh, so you are finally awake," his mother greeted him and left the house soon after.

Nagisa took a quick shower and dressed himself in his school uniform. Then he spent at least ten minutes in front of a mirror with scissors in his hand. He neared the scissors to the strand of his blue hair but was unable to cut them.

This had been repeating ever since his graduation from junior high. Even though he swore he would cut his hair he still couldn't make himself do so. The boy didn't want to admit it he was still trapped by his mother.

It was not like their relationship was that bad anymore. His mother still had her moments but she didn't hurt him. She even stopped trying to make him wear girl's clothes. But she still bought them and showed them to him from time to time. Nagisa didn't miss the look on her face when she did so. She was still scary.

It didn't happen often but at times when he felt his mother was at the edge he would play along with her wishes and wear the dress she had showed him. Just to please her.

In the end he gave up like every other day and tied his hair as usual.

He collected his things, had a quick breakfast and after taking the lunchbox he had prepared the previous night headed to school.

* * *

"Shiotacchi, your lunch looks amazing! May I have a bite?"

"Go ahead," the bluenette smiled at his blond classmate and offered him his lunch.

It was a complete mystery why the famous Ryota Kise clung to him and Rio Nakamura. But neither Nagisa or Rio questioned him about it. The three of them were put in the same class and made it a habit to have a lunch together every day.

Rio was sure that the reason for the model and new ace of the school's basketball team to start hanging out with them was Nagisa. It was clear as a day that Ryota was interested in him in some way. She suspected that he had just seen Nagisa during the entrance ceremony, thought that he was cute and followed him like a lost puppy.

Whatever reason the blond boy could have, Rio didn't mind. She enjoyed his company. At first he didn't seem to like her very much but it seemed that he warmed up to her recently. Maybe he found out that it was a good thing to have her as a friend especially when it came to coppying the homework.

Ryota's grades were below average and it seemed that the only thing on his mind was basketball. She didn't mind him using her to get to her homework and to have her tutor him when they had test coming. After all, they both were using each other. Rio made him return her favors by introducing her to his fellow teammates and other models. Honestly, Nagisa thought she went a little bit over board with dating.

"I want too! Nagisa's lunches are best!" the girl grinned before snatching away fried shrimp from Nagisa's lunch box.

"W-wait you two! If you continue like this there will be nothing left for me! You both have your own lunches," Nagisa realized when both of them hungrily attacked his lunch.

"But Nagisa's really good. Once you will make some guy really happy~" Rio teased.

Fortunately, Nagisa managed to chase away those two from his lunch box and eat what they left. It wasn't much but it was enough and the two of them turned out not to be so cruel and gave him a taste of their lunches in return. After they ate they still had enough time till the next lesson so they just chatted.

"Well, you two, have you already decided what kind of club you will join?" the basketball player asked throwing his arm around Nagisa's shoulders.

The boy didn't really mind that kind of skinship. Karma and Rio also didn't know what personal space was so he let the taller boy do what he wanted.

"Not yet," he shook his head with a smile.

"I did!" the girl declared. "I'm in the 'go-home club'."

Ryota laughed letting go of Nagisa and leaning on the desk.

"Well, what about joining the basketball club?" he gave both of them an excited look.

"You would make cute managers!"

Nagisa was quite offended that he didn't think about inviting him to join as a player but he wasn't really interested in the first place. After all, he was small, weak and never actually played basketball. And their team was good, so there was actually no point in amateur like him trying.

The blonde girl hummed a mischievous grin appearing on her lips.

"I guess if Nagisa joins I will too. I have so many ideas for cute manager's dress I can make him wear!"

Nagisa almost choked at his blueberry juice.

"Rio! You promised me not to tease me like that again!" he frowned at her.

"It's okay from time to time~."

"No it's not!"

"I would really love to see Shiotacchi in cute dress!"

"Not you too, Kise!"

The blond haired duo laughed at their pounding classmate and after a while decided to give him a break.

"Well, I'm not going to force you join the club, but I hope that the two of you would at least come cheer me on today," the boy shot them a look waiting for their answers.

"You have a match?" Rio shot him a surprised look. "I thought Interhigh is going to start in a month or so."

"Yeah, that's right. This is just a practice match," he explained.

"Then you don't need my support there. Count me out."

"My old teammate will be playing against me. I wanted to introduce Nakamuracchi to him after match but-"

"Count me in!"

The athlete cheered that he managed to play his friend and turned to the bluenette.

"Sorry, I would love to, but I can't. Mom invited her boyfriend over for dinner. She would be pissed if I missed it," Nagisa explained smiling awkwardly.

He would prefer his own father coming over for dinner but he knew that that wouldn't happen. It had been more than ten years since his parents divorced and his father didn't want to see neither him or his mother.

Ryota didn't seem happy about it but he just nodded and let it be. Rio warned him a long time ago not to push Nagisa when it came to his mother. He didn't know the details but he guessed that the two of them didn't have the best relationship.

* * *

"So you were hiding here! Jeez, you disappeared like some ghost or something," Rio stood above the basketball player, hands on her hips and grin on her face.

Ryota looked up to her fearing what kind of look she might have been giving him. He was taken aback seeing her eyes were not smiling like her lips were. They held some kind of sympathy.

He lowered his head and put it under the running water trying to wash away the tears on his face.

Rio must have seriously pitied him since she made no comment. She just handed him a towel.

"That old teammate of yours is really something. Kagami, right?" she spoke a minute later.

She was careful about what to say. She understood that Ryota was proud basketball player. He himself laughed at the thought of losing. But here he was. He lost against Seirin high. It was just a practice match but still... it must have been a blow to him.

"Kagami-cchi?" the boy blinked and then shook his head.

"No, no, no. You got it wrong! He is not that old teammate of mine!"

Rio was a little bit shocked by that. She was sure that she got the name right.

"That tall guy with red hair..."

Ryota shook his head again.

"Wait, that's not the one?! But he was the only one who was drawing the attention to him!"

She noticed a light chuckle escaping the boy's mouth.

"My old teammate was that short bluenette, Kurokocchi."

The girl looked up to the sky, her index finger slightly touching her lower lips as she tried to revive her memory.

"I...I don't remember seeing a player like that. Did he not play?"

"Yes! Yes he did play!" Kise burst into the laughter leaving Rio utterly confused.

"Sorry, sorry," he waved his hand toward her trying to calm himself down.

"Actually, he has a lack of presence so it's not surprising that you didn't notice him," he explained smiling at her.

Rio wasn't really pleased that she didn't manage to notice him, but she was glad that her friend cheered up.

"Crap, have Seirin players left already?" the boy suddenly paled.

"I think so. I saw them walking toward the gate."

"I didn't introduce you to Kurokocchi!"

Honestly speaking, Rio forgot about why she agreed to go watch the match. She just shrugged her shoulders and grinned.

"I guess you will have to do it some other time."

* * *

"W-well, I am leaving," Yukio Kasamatsu stuttered speaking mostly toward Kise as he stood up and let Rio to take his place.

The blonde girl noticed the look he gave her.

"Hey, Kise! Does he loathe me or something?" she asked her friend after sitting herself beside him.

The boy sighed. "Do you really have to ask? He is bad at talking to girls. Do you know how much courage did it take for him to ask you out? And yet you broke up with him after three days!"

"Four days," she corrected him earning a frown.

"Doesn't matter! You have no heart."

The girl puffed her cheeks and set her eyes at the game.

"Seirin is playing," she observed.

"With Shuutoku. Interesting match."

The girl hummed watching both teams carefully.

"If I'm not wrong, there is one of your old teammates in Shuutoku too, right?"

Ryota confirmed it with a nod and pointed at the greenhaired boy. "Midorimacchi. He is the best shooting guard I've ever seen. Kurokocchi will have a hard time. Especially since today is a lucky day for cancers."

Rio didn't get his last comment but didn't question him. She let herself be absorbed into the flow of the game. She didn't really know why but she chose to cheer the Seirin high. That's why she was more than satisfied with the end of the game.

"Seirin won! Have to admit, it was really thrilling. Maybe I can give a second thought to your proposal to be the basketball club's manager," she grinned placing hands behind her head when they were walking to the exit.

"I can't say I expected that outcome, but I have to agree. Watching games like this surely gets your blood pumping. Aaah, I wanna play~."

Seing the boy like this put a gentle smile on Rio's lips. She noticed that his attitude changed a little. After that defeat with Seirin several weeks ago he started to work harder than before.

"Oh, that's right! You never introduced me to your friend from Seirin," the girl remembered.

"Do you want to do that now?" Ryota raised an eyebrow.

"Nah! Let them celebrate their victory. And I'm hungry. Buy me something for dinner!" she ordered, usual grin on her face.

"Wait, wait, wait! Why should I buy you anything?"

"Because you are man, practically a superstar and you don't want those embarrassing pictures of you crying pathetically to get online~."

"When the hell did you managed to take pictures?! But fine," he sighed in resignation. "I'll treat you."

"Yay!" the girl cheered and followed her friend to the closest restaurant.

* * *

"So Nagisa didn't come in the end. Again. Is he avoiding me?" Kise asked with a gloom expression when they were seated in the restaurant.

"I wouldn't say so. He just... mentioned his mother," Rio shrugged but it didn't seem that Kise's mood was any better.

"Oh, come on! He comes to watch your matches, you know that."

"Yeah, I know."

"Um, Kise?"

"What now?"

"Seirin."

Kaijou's ace turned his head toward the door just in time to meet Taiga Kagami's surprised expression.

"Kise!" he yelled while the boy just waved to him.

Ryota and Rio both stood up while Seirin's couch pushed her players to their seats. Riko Aida obviously didn't want to interrupt this encounter.

"Kagamicchi! Kurokocchi!" Kise greeted them with a smile.

"Oh, good timing! Let me introduce you. This is my friend, Nakamuracchi," he waved his hand toward Rio.

"Rio Nakamura. Nice to meet ya!" she smiled sweetly at the big redhead.

"Taiga Kagami. Same here," the boy replied.

Suddenly, another voice spoke beside him spooking the girl. She didn't notice anyone else except Kagami.

"Testuya Kuroko. Pleasure to meet you," small bluenette bowed.

Rio's eyes widened. And it wasn't only because of the shock he gave her. She studied him with her eyes, examining his light blue hair, pale skin, azure eyes and small and delicate figure. She said nothing.

After the first year duo from Shuutoku high arrived she didn't protest when she was dragged to another table so Kise, Kagami, Kuroko and Midorima could sit at the same table.

But she failed to be impressed by that ridiculous combo. Her eyes didn't leave Kuroko.

"Is something wrong?" Riko asked her when she noticed how much she stared at one of her players.

"No, it's nothing. There is just something weird and amazing happening in front of my eyes," she answered not sparing her even a glance.

"I know, right! Those guys sitting at the same table make me excited as well!"

'That's not it.'

The rest of the time she just chatted with the Seirin's players, their coach and Takao Kazunari. She tried to ignore the guys at the nearby table, but her eyes would search the small bluehaired basketball player from time to time.

Rio would later curse herself for not enjoying her time with those sportsmen at fullest, but at that time there was one question that was straining her brain.

"Hey, Kise," she looked at her classmate on the way home.

"That guy, Kuroko. His hair was short and his expression a little bit dull but..."

The blonde boy snickered knowing exactly what was going through his friend's mind.

"Why the hell did he look exactly like Nagisa?!"


	2. Chapter 2

**2\. chapter:**

 **The one where they meet**

* * *

"Sooo... Kuroko is the reason why you befriended Nagisa," Rio concluded shooting a glance at the bluenette's empty desk. He wasn't in school yet.

"At the entrance ceremony I thought that I saw Kurokocchi. The only thing that was off was that long hair. Of course that I was curious," the boy grinned leaning his head on his hand.

"I thought a lot about questioning both of them but... I had no idea what to say. They could be relatives or not actually be related at all. Like people say, everyone has a look-alike somewhere," he shrugged.

The blonde hummed bringing her index finger to her chin. She had read about people who despite having nothing in common looked like twins but she never thought she would meet a pair herself.

"I bet they are cousins," she blurted out of a sudden. "I don't believe that they are not related."

Ryota chuckled. "Considering their resemblance and the same age I would say that they are brothers. But... a secret brother? That's too crazy, right?"

"I've seen crazier things," Rio waved it off as not that bad idea.

"We will get nowhere like this," Ryota sighed. "To determine whether they are relatives...it would be best to just get those two to meet and ask them directly."

Rio's eyes sparkled. "Alright! Let's do that!"

"Eh, what?" the basketball player blinked in confusion.

"Let's arrange the meeting!" she hit Kise's desk with her hand leaning toward him excited with the idea.

"C'mon~. You want to see it too! Those two standing side by side."

Even though Ryota didn't like the grin on her face he had to agree. Seeing those two together would be a sight.

* * *

Rio and Ryota might have agreed on bringing those two together but they weren't able to do so. Rio blamed the basketball player since he seemed to not have the time at all. She couldn't be really angry at him, though. After all, he had a goal to achieve. To be honest, she was a little bit jealous.

Ever since the graduation from the junior high she was bored. There was really nothing that could interest her. Maybe that was the reason why she wanted Kuroko and Nagisa to meet so much. She had this feeling that it would turn out to be quite interesting. And with some luck, she might get another person she could tease.

"You alright?" The soft voice of a certain bluenette brought her back from her thoughts.

"Y-yeah. Why shouldn't I be?" she smiled sheepishly.

"You seemed to be off recently. Is there something on your mind?"

'Damn Nagisa! His observation skills are too good.' Rio grimaced and then sighed.

"Actually, I'm bored. Last year we had Koro-sensei and his assassination running so I had always something to do. But now... there is nothing I can dive into headfirst. And it's not helping seeing Kise and his obsession with basketball." She decided to go with half-truth. Nagisa would probably find out if she lied.

The boy seemed to think about it before he nodded. "I know what you mean. Even though we both have our goals they are pretty much far in the future. Last year we were focused on the assassination. And now Kise has Interhigh and Winter cup. We have nothing right now."

From the look on Nagisa's face it was clear that he shared her mood.

'Well, I do have something interesting in mind but with Kise bailing on me I can't really do anything about it,' she pouted.

* * *

"This...doesn't look good," Nagisa observed not allowing himself to take his eyes away from the game.

"Interhigh quarter-finals are surely intense," Rio agreed with clenched fists.

"That Aomine is a monster," she added as the game Kaijo versus Too was nearing its end.

"Going by the same logic, Kise is even a bigger monster," Nagisa muttered. "Playing like that with a hurt leg."

"What?! Hurt leg?" Rio blinked glancing at her classmate.

"Didn't you notice?"

Rio shook her head yet the boy wasn't able to see that. Not once did he look her way.

"Well, hurt leg or not, I hate to admit it but the Too's ace is stronger," she grimaced when Aomine stopped Kise's pass for Kasamatsu.

Nagisa just sighed. "Seems like the winner has already been decided. But," a little smile appeared on his lips, "none of these guys seems to be giving up."

"Yeah. Makes you want to cry in frustration with them. Aww, Kise will be so depressed," she whined.

"But in the end it will result in you wanting to cheer these guys on even more. The next time they play that is."

The two of them stood up heading toward the exit. They only came to watch this particular game. And they wanted to get to Kise's side as soon as possible.

"That's so much like you to say that," the blonde chuckled a little bit of sadness and frustration still in her voice.

"Hey, Nagisa. I need to go to the bathroom. Go ahead and cheer that fool up a little," the girl changed her direction.

"You just want an excuse so you don't have to deal with depressed Kise," the boy sighed as he watched her walk away.

"I'm not really good at supporting idiots," she declared and disappeared from the bluenette's vision.

* * *

'He must be at least 2 meters tall. Wearing a jersey. Gotta be a player.'

Taiga Kagami watched the tall boy as he disappeared behind a corner. His blood was boiling. He wanted to play. Or at least stay there and watch the other games. He was curious what was the other two Generation of Miracles's members like.

"Why can't we just stay here?" he pouted.

"Don't be ridiculous. Hyuuga has already explained that to you. Besides, did you watch Kise and Aomine properly? We have to train more. Can't waste another minute," coach gave him a little bit pissed look.

Kagami came to the conclusion that the game frustrated and depressed her as much as the other Seirin's players.

"Yeah," he sighed following his teammates.

"Oh! Look at that, if it's not Seirin," a familiar voice reached his ears.

The boy turned around to face the blonde girl with skyblue eyes.

"Kise's girlfriend!" he shouted alarming all the other boys.

"Nakamura? Nice to see you again," Seirin's players suddenly surrounded her.

'Aren't they little bit too familiar with her?' Taiga just watched in awe how the girl was greeted by his team. They had only seen her once but they grew pretty fond of her.

"Just to be clear," an index finger suddenly appeared in front of his face and made him flinch.

"Kise and I are not dating," Rio declared apparently lifting up the spirits of some of the boys.

"O-okay," the tall boy stuttered pushing Rio's finger away.

For some reason he had this ominous feeling. It felt like it was not an ordinary finger that was aiming at his eye but rather a knife or a gun. 'This girl is dangerous,' he realized. He would swear that she was radiating a pure bloodlust.

"Tell me, what are you guys doing here?" she smiled at them the feeling of bloodlust that was surrounding her suddenly gone.

"Had a training camp nearby. And since we had time before returning home we decided to come watch the game," Riko explained returning the blonde the smile as if she didn't notice anything strange about the girl a moment ago.

"I see," the blonde eyed them one by one. "Kuroko is not here?"

It was as if she uttered some magical words. Every one of the players the coach included started to look around them.

"The hell is he again?!" Riko glared at her players but they just shrugged saying they didn't notice him leaving.

"Alright, Kagami! Find him!" the girl ordered and together with the boys bid the blonde farewell.

The tall readhead sighed turning toward different direction having already pretty good idea where his teammate could have disappeared to before a small hand stopped him.

"Hey, Kagami," the blonde grinned making him flinch again. He really didn't like her.

"Your number," she beamed.

"Huh?"

"I'm telling you to give me your phone number!"

To an outsider it might have been funny that a big boy like Kagami was intimidated by her but the basketball player already understood that that girl was no joke. He obediently took out his phone and they exchanged their contact info.

"Great! You know what? When you find Kuroko, call me. I'm off to look for Kise. Bye~."

Kagami frowned and turned his back on her. No way he would call her! He didn't like that look on her face at all.

* * *

"Here you go."

"Thanks."

Kise gave Nagisa an exhausted smile and took offered sports drink. Nagisa seated himself on the bench beside him and looked around the park while his friend took a sip.

"It was a good match. You were really amazing," he spoke quietly patting him on his back.

The blond boy would have cried but he had already run out of tears. His body was sore and his throat dry so he just drank.

"It wasn't enough. I wasn't strong enough," he whispered after a while.

Nagisa turned his gaze toward him studying his face. He feared that Kise's spirit might have broken. But after seing the expression the boy wore he knew that there was nothing to worry about. His fighting spirit burned brighter than ever.

"In that case," he smiled, "you just have to become stronger. And beat Aomine at Winter cup. I and Rio will cheer for you."

A smile spread on Ryota's lips. "Aww, I'm tired," he let himself fall on Nagisa's small shoulder leaving the boy to struggle with his weight.

"Kise, you are heavy," the little boy tried push him away.

"You are cruel, Shiotacchi. I need someone to comfort me," he whined.

"Find yourself a girlfriend, please," the bluenette sighed. It was clear as a day that the basketball player snapped out of it for now and was fooling around.

"That's easier said than done."

"You have tons of fangirls!"

"Buuut..."

Up until now Nagisa had no idea whether he liked or not Kise's personality. He could be cheerful and cool one moment and whine like a baby the other. In other words, he could be really annoying. Yet his personality wasn't as difficult as Karma's. For that Nagisa was really grateful. He was only willing to handle one crazy redhead.

"What do we have here? Nagisa, you have interesting methods of cheering someone up."

The duo looked up to see a grinning blonde. Bluenette frowned and once again pushed the taller boy off of him. Before Ryota could lean on him once more, Nagisa stood up jumping to the safe distance.

"Don't tease me again," the boy sighed after seing that grin plastered on Nakamura's face.

"Nakamuracchi~! You have terrible timing. We were having a moment."

"No, we were not!" Nagisa shouted at the other boy.

The laughter of both his friend made Nagisa blush. 'They are making fun of me!'

"Come on, Nagisa. I'm really sorry but...You are so easy to tease! It would be a shame not to grab the opportunity," the blonde said.

Kise stayed on his spot emptying the bottle Nagisa gave him. Nakamura watched him to do so and as soon as he finished the drink she turned toward Nagisa with a smirk. "Oi! Seems that our ace is still thirsty. Why don't you go grab another drink?"

"Why don't you go this time?" Nagisa asked her smelling something fishy. He knew her well and he didn't like the look in her eyes.

"I have no idea where the vending machine is. Besides I have no small change on me."

Nagisa just sighed and complied. Nakamura waited till he was too far away and them she took out her phone.

"What are you up to?" Ryota raised an eyebrow.

"What _WE_ are up to," Rio corrected him.

"I bumped into Seirin's players just a minute ago. What do you say? We have a great opportunity now! Shall we proceed with the mission?"

* * *

As expected, Kagami found Kuroko playing with a ball at a nearby court. He had no intention to call that creepy blonde from the beginning so he just threw his bag aside and made Kuroko to toss him so he could dunk. The fact that the rest of the team was waiting for them didn't bother him either. That was until Kuroko didn't shot a glance at his bag.

"Your phone," the bluenette said simply.

Cold ran up Kagami's spine. The first thing that popped up in his mind was an angry face of Seirin's coach. She would kill both of them for letting her and the others wait too long. The boy ran toward his bag and fished out his phone.

"Oh, great," he gritted his teeth upon seeing who was calling him.

"I didn't know you had Nakamura's number," a familiar voice of certain bluenette spooked him.

"Kuroko! Stop sneaking behind me!" Kagami jumped wondering where did the boy managed to get behind him.

"Will you answer it?"

Kuroko's question calmed the bigger boy. Taiga gazed at his phone wanting to cancel the call. But he knew that if he did so, Kuroko would scold him for being rude. The boy could be really an earsore from time to time.

"Y-yeah?" he picked it up.

"Did you find him?" the girly voice shouted to his ear immediately.

"Yeah, Kuroko is with me," he sighed wondering what that girl wanted.

"Then why didn't you call me?! Ah, never mind. Come to the park. I need Kuroko to help me with Kise," she blurted and then hung up before the boy got a chance to protest.

* * *

"Didn't Nakamura tell you what exactly was wrong with Kise?" Tetsuya asked his friend as they were walking through the park.

"Not a word. He is probably just depressed. Do you see them?" Taiga was looking around them with an annoyed expression.

"Oh, there they are," the bluenette pointed at the two blond teens and they walk toward them.

"Kurokocchi~!" Kise whined as soon as he saw them throwing his hands to the air.

At first glance he looked alright. Mentally, that is. It was clear that he overdid it. He looked a little bit pale, his legs were still shaking and it didn't need a genius to figure out that he was most likely not able to stand on his own. Tetsuya noticed his friend's eyes were slightly puffed and that there were traces of dried tears on his cheeks.

"Kise," the boy greeted him. "It was an amazing match."

"Everyone says so. But we still lost," the blond groaned.

"What is the problem?" the redhead glared at the grinning girl. "He seems alright to me."

"He can't stand, dumbass," she retorted.

"Eh, I can. I just needed a break," the blond boy said yet it seemed that the only one listening was his ex-teammate. Rio and Taiga were too occupied with stabbing each other with their glares.

"It seems those two don't get along well," Tetsuya observed earning a chuckle from Ryota.

"You think?"

"But, Kise," the bluenette looked at his friend, "seriously, what is the problem? I was worried after that call."

The Kaijo's ace scratched his head smiling. "Sorry about that. Nakamuracchi is like that sometimes. The truth is we wanted you to meet someone."

Kuroko tilted his head in confusion which didn't show on his expressionless face. "Meet wh-" he wanted to ask but an unknown voice interrupted him.

"Kise, I'm so sorry it took me so long. I had to find another vending machine since the sports drinks were sold out from the first one."

Taiga noticed sparks in Rio's eyes. The girl jumped to the new figure pushing the person closer to Ryota and Tetsuya. For a moment Taiga thought that the new bluenette was a girl because of the long hair. But once he got a glimpse of that face...

"Eh?" he blinked studying the face of an unknown person who looked too much as his teammate.

"Nagisa~," Rio almost sang, "this is-"

"Tetsuya?"

They all stayed frozen at the place after Nagisa spoke the name of the other bluenette. Kagami was too surprised by the similarity of those two and Kise by the fact that they actually knew each other. Rio had to bit her lip in excitement but her mood quickly changed after noticing what kind of faces those two made.

Their eyes were wide and shock was written all over them. But there was something ominous hanging in the air.

'Nagisa's bloodlust?' she realised suddenly. Rio glanced toward Tetsuya attempting to read him. Without a doubt, there was fear behind those blue eyes.

"You are...Tetsuya, right?" Nagisa spoke again.

Unconsciously, Rio tightened her grip on her friend's arm. She had this feeling that if she didn't prevent him from moving something terrible would happen.

Before anyone could snap out of it, Kuroko darted out away from them.

"Kuroko, wait!" Kagami called and ran after him after coming to his senses.

The other three stayed where they were, the blondes trying to figure out what exactly was what they were witnesses of.

"Nagisa?" Rio asked carefully studying her friend's face.

"Let me go."

The blonde girl didn't even think of disobeying him and released his hand. Nagisa walked toward Kise and placed the sports drink he had bought on the bench beside him.

 _~Nee-chan!~_

The bluenette gritted his teeth, turned his back on his friends and without a word walked away.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you all who are following this story! Hope you like it so far.  
**

 **To Meiyo12: yay! what a lovely first review :3 it sped up my work ~ I'm glad you like the story ^^**

 **Well, onto the chapter. Hope it will not disappoint you ~**

* * *

 **3\. Chapter:**

 **The one about the Phantom**

* * *

 _Tetsuya had a good life. An ordinary one. However you looked at him he was an average person. His grades were acceptable, his looks ordinary. He never stood out, it was actually a complete opposite. Tetsuya was alright with being invisible. He was used to it. If he was a character in some novel he was damn sure he wouldn't be a main character. He wouldn't make even a side character either. But he could be a narrator. A nameless one whose face you would never see. Or so he wished that it would be the case._

* * *

"I'm home," he muttered after silently pushing the house door to open.

The door made no sound, his steps were light and his words were whispers. He could hear mother preparing dinner in the kitchen but it didn't seem that she heard him. He didn't mind that. Silently like a mouse he slipped into his room.

He could go to kitchen and say hi to the woman, he would spook her by appearing out from nowhere, she would laugh, ask him how was the training camp and dismiss him afterwards until the dinner was ready.

Asuka Kuroko was a nice woman. She had long silky brown hair and beautiful lilac eyes, her voice was sweet and her smile charming. Tetsuya liked her. They got along quite well. He even called her mother. Yet he never thought about her in that way. She might have been his father's wife, but there was no relation between her and the boy. And even though they were close, there was a rift between them.

She married his father and Tetsuya was just his father's baggage. She tolerated him, she was nice to him but that was it. Once Tetsuya was old enough they were bound to have a baby. He knew that well. But not once did he regret his father deciding to divorce his real mother.

* * *

 _The light blinded the bluehaired boy. He squinted his eyes and frowned. He hated taking pictures._

 _"You are so cute here~!" his mother beamed looking at her camera. Suddenly, she paused._

 _"Huh? Tetsuya, you were there too? Well, alright. Step back so I can take a picture of your sister again."_

 _The grip of his mother was like one of an eagle with iron talons. Her nails dug into the little arm of a boy and showed him to the side. He scowled but didn't dare to protest. He glanced toward the girl with the same blue hair and azure eyes like his._

 _The sad and shy smile she gave him changed into big bright and fake one once she looked back to the camera. She wore fluffy white and pink dress with lance and ribbons and big pink bow on her head. She looked like an angel, Tetsuya thought._

 _"Alrighty~," their mother sang. "You are ready for your first day of kindergarten. Go find your father."_

 _His sister jumped to him, took his hand and pulled._

 _"Let's go, Tetsu!"_

 _The smile she gave him was like the one she put on in front of camera and yet different. This one was warm as the rays of the sun. The boy squeezed the girl's hand._

 _"Um," he nodded returning the smile._

* * *

"You did well," Tetsuya praised the dog after slipping from his house back on the street.

As if the dog was reading his mind, the small creature was silent the whole time they were inside. Thanks to that none of the other occupants of the house knew that Tetsuya was there. The bluenette didn't really wish to talk to his father and he certainly didn't have the mood to talk to mother. So he just put his things in his room, grabbed his ball and then headed to the closest basketball court with Nigo at his heels.

"I'm alright," the boy petted the dog once they got there.

The little creature was still silent and looking at him with those big azure concerned eyes. How an animal could be so sympathetic was beyond Tetsuya's understanding. Yet those eyes of his didn't calm him down. They were too much like his own eyes. And that meant too much like _his_ eyes as well.

Tetsuya looked away his hand scratching the dog under his ear. Feeling his fluffy fur between his fingers magically worked. Tetsuya breathed in and out and then smiled.

"Thank you," he leaned toward his pet pushing him into embrace.

Nigo licked his master's chin and barked once Tetsuya let him go. The boy took his ball and dribbled it moving toward the pole the dog behind him trying to catch the ball.

He played with the dog until the night came and long after. His father called him three times during the time but the boy didn't bother to answer. He just sent a text letting him know that he was alright. But that was a one big lie.

* * *

 _"Daddy?"_

 _The man with ashgray hair and light blue eyes hidden behind rounded glasses turned his attention to his little son._

 _"What is it?" he smiled gently._

 _His smile was kind like the one the boy's sister adorned her face with. Tetsuya liked that smile. It was different then the one his mother had. Her smiles were hideous. The smiles of his sister and father were pure and tender._

 _The boy was looking at his feet before he raised his eyes to look into his father's._

 _"Nee-chan is a girl, right?" he asked innocently tilting his head._

 _At that time Tetsuya didn't understood those feelings that were reflected in his father's eyes. Fear, guilt, shame. He would come to be able to decipher them all at later age. At that time he was just a child. Curious and confused._

 _"W-why do you ask?" the man stuttered trying to smile kindly at the bluehaired boy._

 _"Kids in the kindergarten were mean to her. They called her weird because she was wearing dress. But girls wear dresses."_

 _The troubled face of the child brought even more guilt into the man's eyes and heart._

 _"Tetsuya," he placed his hands on his son's shoulders and squeezed gently, "there is something you need to understand."_

* * *

"Tetsuya! You have a friend here!"

The bluenette pushed his dog off of his lap and stood up. Nigo growled dissatisfied. He loved to nap in his master's lap.

'Who might he be? Especially at this hour?' Tetsuya wondered as he was descending the stairs. He rarely invited his friends over so there weren't really many people who knew where he lived.

"Yo!" Tetsuya came face to face with a certain redhead.

"Good evening, Kagami. What are you doing here?" the boy asked with an usual stoic expression.

"What the hell do you mean what I'm doing? What are you doing? You skipped practice today!" he growled angrily. "Coach is pissed, you know. She is gonna kill you for today and yesterday as well."

Kuroko could feel a cold sweat on his back. He totally forgot about the coach.

"I'm really sorry. I trained on my own since I thought that there is not much I can do in practice with the others. I will make sure to properly apologize to coach and others," the bluenette bowed his head slightly looking back at his friend a second later.

He didn't speak it aloud but his eyes were for once easy to read. 'Please, leave me alone.' Unfortunately, Kagami was either too dense or too stubborn to do as Kuroko wished.

"Kuroko, stop fucking with me," he shot him a killer's look. "What is going on? Explain."

Tetsuya lowered his head not willing to look him in the eyes. There was a long silence before he turned around and headed toward the stairs.

"Please, follow me," he told him and not caring whether he obeyed walked into his room.

Taiga was really pissed at him. He thought they were friends and couldn't stand Kuroko trying to distance himself from him even thought he was able to figure out that it was probably a delicate problem. He didn't care about some boundaries at that moment, he was willing to punch it out of the smaller boy.

He entered Kuroko's room and almost immediately jumped out of it as he was greeted by dog's barking.

"Why is not that beast locked somewhere?" he squeaked.

A light smile appeared on Tetsuya's lips before he lifted the dog into his arms.

"Why should I lock him up? He is a friend and a companion of mine. You are surely cruel, Kagami," Tetsuya gave him a sad puppy-eyed look before ushering him into the room and closing the door leaving Nigo in the hall.

Taiga surely wasn't a shy guest. As soon as he was in he helped himself and let his enormous body fall onto Tetsuya's bed.

"Your room is pretty boring," he concluded after examining it with his eyes.

"It is an ordinary room," the bluenette sighed seating himself on a chair.

"Kuroko," Kagami placed his hands on his knees leaning a little bit forward and raising his chin up.

"Speak," he commanded.

The boy was still hesitant but in the end he sighed.

"You know, it's a little bit uncomfortable for me to talk about it."

* * *

 _"What the hell are you trying to say?!"_

 _"Lower your voice, Hiromi. You will wake them up!"_

 _"Don't you dare tell me what to do!"_

 _The little boy froze. He stayed hidden behind the door too afraid to go to the bathroom now or move at all. He might make a noise and alert his parents if he did so._

 _He was afraid of fights. And he hated when his parents argued. Because when they argued they became angry. Especially his mother. And when his mother was angry she was really scary. She didn't even hesitate to hit him at those times._

 _"It was cute when he was a baby but it went too far! Kids are cruel, they are already picking on him and it will only be worse once he starts the school," his father's voice came, quiet but anxious._

 _Was he talking about him? But kids didn't pick on him. The one they bullied was his sister. It took a while for a tired child's brain to remember the conversation he had with his father a while back. The one he didn't completely understand back then._

 _"I don't know what you are talking about. Nagisa is a girl. She is my daughter and she will wear whatever I give her to!" his mother hissed finally decreasing the volume of her voice._

 _"You are crazy! Nagisa is not a girl, he is a boy. You will only end up destroying him. I won't let that happen. Stop with this madness or bear the consequences."_

* * *

"No offense," Kagami snorted scratching the back of his neck, "but your mother is sick."

Kuroko sighed silently agreeing with him. Even after all these years he never dared to badmouth her but what he thought about her wasn't nice at all.

"So, earlier with Kise and Nakamura that was your older brother who lives with your mother who made him to dress in girly clothes," he summed it up.

"That is right," he confirmed.

"But why the hell did he end up in the care of your mom? Didn't your father ask for divorce because he wanted to help your brother? So your mother wouldn't be able to make him dress like that anymore?" the big boy questioned.

Tetsuya pulled his legs closer to his body and hugged them. He leaned his head on his knees and closed his eyes.

"That was his intention, but then..."

Kagami waited for Kuroko to continue but no words left his mouth.

"Well? Are you trying my patience?" he frowned displeased with the long silence. It wasn't the first time Kuroko did something like that.

"Boys~!" knocking on the door and sweet female voice interrupted them.

Both shot a glance toward Tetsuya's stepmother who now stood in the door.

"The dinner is ready. Would you like to join us, Kagami? You can even stay here overnight if it is okay with your parents," she offered with a kind smile.

"Eh, if I'm not too much of a trouble?" he bowed his head sheepishly.

"Not at all~," she gave them one last smile before she went back to the kitchen.

'It is not wise to invite Kagami for dinner,' Tetsuya thought but didn't protest. It was nice to watch him eating so hungrily. He looked like a hamster. The only worry he had was whether they would have enough food. And Kagami's harsh questions afterwards.

* * *

 _"Nee-chan? Do you want to play with a ball with me?"_

 _The girl looked at him with sadness in her eyes. Tetsuya hated seeing his big sister sad, but that was all she was lately. When he tried to help her she would plaster on her face a fake smile saying that it was only her tummy hurting. He believed her at that time._

 _"Sorry, Tetsu. Mommy bought me those new dress yesterday. She will be upset if I dirty them," she smiled at her brother apologetically._

 _She wore simple mint green dress with a big yellow bow around her waist. It would be really bad if she dirtied them. Their mother had a foul mood lately. She would spank her and she would probably spank Tetsuya too if it was destroyed._

 _"We will play later," the girl promised._

 _"Okay," Tetsuya smiled running off to play on his own._

 _"It is boring without nee-chan," he pouted and shot a look back at his sibling._

 _"Why can't brother play with me if he wants?"_

* * *

"Now, will you continue?" Kagami lied down on the mattress Asuka prepared for him beside Tetsuya's bed.

He glared at the dog who lied on Kuroko's pillow warily. It didn't matter how much he hated sleeping in the same room as a dog that could jump at him and bit him anytime during the night he had no saying in it. Nigo was Kuroko's dog and they were in Kuroko's room and that was the end.

Tetsuya sighed and tried to move the dog away so he could ie down too. Kagami could tell that he was stalling. The redhead was a lot calmer after eating so he waited patiently. Yet his patience had limits and he reached them rather quickly.

"Stop it! Finish it, finally!" he hissed.

"As you wish," the boy obeyed surrendering the pillow to the pet.

"So, dad became tired with mom's behavior and wanted divorce. They fought over our custody. Dad...he might have won," he hesitated.

"But he didn't," Taiga completed.

"Not really. More like that he gave up."

Kagami raised his eyebrow. "What kind of father would give up on his kids?"

"You don't understand. He gave up on my brother because of me," the bluenette said lowering his head once more so his bangs would cover his eyes.

"What did you do?" Taiga asked hesitantly only to meet Tetsuya's frightened glance after he shook his head.

The bluenette touched his left shoulder lightly trying to stop the shivers that ran through his body. His shoulder felt heavy and a long forgotten pain stabbed him leaving him without an energy.

"Nothing. It was just... my brother, he... he is terrifying."

* * *

 _Kindergarten was not really that bad. But, on the other hand, it wasn't really that good either. Most of the time Tetsuya would just stick to his girlish doppelganger. The two of them often played with a ball or simply draw pictures in silence._

 _Tetsuya didn't need anyone else beside his brother. He didn't like other boys since they were mean to Nagisa and he didn't care about girls since they completely ignored him. Nagisa was a different case._

 _The girls would often approach him trying to make him play with them. He did everything he could to get rid of them. He had no desire to play with dolls. When Nagisa thought that his brother wasn't watching he would glance enviously toward the boys. Tetsuya did notice that, eventually. Yet he said nothing._

 _Tetsuya would always tell himself that everything was alright. He had Nagisa and Nagisa had him. And that it was enough. He didn't need anything else so the same logic should apply to his brother._

 _He always associated the sadness in his brother's eyes with their mother. And Nagisa would always cheer up when they played so the little boy assumed that the sadness would always disappear with ease. And when his brother smiled he would cheer him up as well. Never did occurred to him that that smile could have been a fake one._

 _"Tetsu," the sheepish voice of the bluenette in lightblue skirt alerted the boy._

 _He stop in the middle of drawing a weird-shaped tree and looked up to see his sibling playing with paper flower he just cut from the color paper._

 _"Nee-chan?" he tilted his head his big azure eyes following his brother's little fingers that started to slowly rip the flower apart._

 _"Don't do it!" he pouted. "It's a shame. That flower was so pretty."_

 _Nagisa didn't say a word. He didn't even look at his brother. The boy just continued ripping the paper flower making the other bluenette quite uneasy._

 _"What's wrong, nee-chan?" a worried look appeared on the boy's face._

 _Nagisa's hair was a little bit messy and on his skirt and shirt were smudges of red paint. The other kids were picking on him again. Their mom was going to be furious._

 _"Nee-chan, nee-chan, nee-chan...can you finally stop it?" Nagisa muttered suddenly._

 _His harsh tone spook the other boy. Tetsuya froze watching his brother's body shake. A cold run up his spine and the air felt a lot heavier than before. He couldn't move. It felt like a snake crawling around his body paralyzing him. He never noticed Nagisa taking those scissors. He only noticed his cold eyes and a pain that erupted from his shoulder out of nowhere. He wasn't sure but he would swear he heard his brother whisper._

 _"Why don't you disappear?"_


	4. Chapter 4

**4\. Chapter:  
**

 **The one where the Serpent finds his answer**

* * *

 _Nagisa never thought about himself as about a good guy. He knew very well that he wasn't. But if he was a character in TV series he wouldn't be a villain either. He was just that neutral guy who could be loved or become easily hated by the audience. But the one with potential to be a hero or turn into a villain._

* * *

It would be a lie to say that the bluenette was surprised upon seeing Karma Akabane on the steps to his house. If anything it was surprising that he appeared two days after meeting Tetsuya.

"I thought Rio would send you here two days ago," he stated bluntly after letting him into his room and opening a bag of chips.

"She did, actually. But I had already plans with Asano," he grinned mischievously and accepted offered treat.

"Do I want to know what kind of prank did you pull on him?" Nagisa smiled awkwardly.

"I don't think so. Let's talk about you and your doppelganger," the redhead licked his fingers raising an eyebrow questioningly.

"Alright," the other boy sighed.

He was not willing to talk about his past with Rio nor Kise. But Karma was a completely different case. He was his best friend. And Nagisa was sure there was no point in hiding something. Karma would fish it out eventually. So he decided to tell him the whole story.

* * *

 _"Heh?! Nagisa is not a girl?"_

 _"He is wearing dress."_

 _"That is disgusting!"_

 _"He is weird."_

 _The tears filled the child's eyes as he ran away from the others. Was he really weird? But why? Was it wrong to wear dress? But mommy always said that he was cute in them. Tetsuya liked them too. So why did the other boys hate them so much? Or did they hate him? Did he do something to them?_

 _"Nee-chan. Why are you crying?"_

 _The boy raised his head to see the worried eyes of his mirror image. He gulped and tried to stop his tears from running down his cheeks. This was his brother. His little brother. They were of the same age but Nagisa was still older. He was supposed to be strong for him._

 _"It's nothing, Tetsu," the bluenette managed to put on a happy smile._

 _"Don't you want to go play with ball?" he asked right after that. He knew that Tetsuya loved playing with ball._

 _"Okay!" his younger brother beamed, grabbed his sibling's hand and they both went to get the ball._

* * *

"Well, there is only one word to voice the surprise. Wow! You should have told me sooner that you have a twin!" the redhead snickered.

Nagisa didn't even want to know what was now going on inside his friend's head. Probably thousand and one shenanigans he could pull of on twins after throwing them into the same room. The bluenettes wouldn't surely like any of them.

"And I would never assume that you are older brother," Karma continued. "Sooo..." he frowned changing his expression completely, "what happened between the two of you? No, no, let me guess. Your mom."

Nagisa chuckled. "Yeah, I think you can say that she is the root of my every problem."

The boy would never admit it but Karma's personality was quite helpful during serious conversations like this one was supposed to be. He wasn't sure whether his friend was doing that on purpose but his laid-back self kept Nagisa from getting depressed and locking his worries inside himself.

* * *

 _Nagisa looked over his body before scanning the appearance of his brother. He didn't get it. What made them different? However you look at it they looked completely identical._

 _"Nagisa! Tetsuya! Don't you want to get out already? The water must be cold," their father's voice came._

 _"No it's not. Can we stay a little longer?" Nagisa shouted back._

 _"Alright. But not too long."_

 _The twins smiled at each other and continued to play with their rubber ducks. They both loved to bath together yet there weren't many opportunities to do so. The only time when they were allowed to was when their mother wasn't at home. For some reason she wouldn't allow them to do that._

 _"What did you say?!" they heard a shriek after a few minutes._

 _Nagisa paled. There was no doubt who that voice belonged to. She said she wouldn't come until the next day. And yet she was barging into the bathroom at that exact minute._

 _"Nagisa! Get out!" she glared at both of them and grabbed Tetsuya's arm pulling him to his feet._

 _The boy whined when he was forced to stand up which was difficult in the tub. The woman paused leaning her head closer to the boy examining his face. After realizing that she had a wrong child she let him go and grabbed Nagisa instead._

* * *

"Hey, Nagisa," Karma glared at his friend, "you are stalling. I already know how your mother is."

The bluenette swallowed and stuffed his mouth with chips. Karma was right. Even though he had made up his mind even before his friend came he was still hesitating to tell him. He was a scaredy-cat. He munched the chips and with eyes on his feet thought about how he should explain it to Karma.

"Do you want me to go get you another packed?" the redhead joked.

"Sorry," Nagisa mumbled pushing the pack away from him.

Karma didn't hesitate and grabbed it immediately, "Well?"

Nagisa sighed and continued.

"If it hadn't been for my father and Tetsuya I might have been a lot worse mentally. It was my father who explained to both of us the difference between girls and boys. But... even understanding didn't change anything. I was still in my mother's clutches. I had to still wear girl's clothes. And... Tetsuya still called me nee-chan."

Karma watched Nagisa's expression change and frowned. He thought that his friend had overcome his problems with his mother but there was without a doubt more. The redhead always thought that he knew everything about Nagisa's problems. Well, he was wrong. And he didn't like that. But he was glad that Nagisa was willing to open to him.

* * *

 _"Where are you going?" the bluenette squinted his eyes to better see at his brother._

 _"I need to pee," his twin answered in whisper._

 _Nagisa just nodded and turned to his other side. His brother was capable of going to the bathroom on his own, after all. He closed his eyes and fell asleep once more. His sleep was shallow. Nagisa had never a deep sleep._

 _He had disturbing dream of their parents arguing. The one who woke him up was his brother._

 _"Tetsu," he mumbled. "You are back? So go to sleep."_

 _Nagisa didn't even open his eyes. He expected that Tetsuya would just tell him good night and go to his bed. But his brother kept shaking him._

 _"What is wrong?" the older boy blinked and sat up so he would be face to face with his brother._

 _"They argued," Tetsuya said simply._

 _Nagisa was tired. Really tired. At the moment he had no desire to know what they were arguing about. He wanted to sleep. Yet Tetsuya was troubled by it. And when he was troubled he would not be able to shut his eyes close. He was fragile._

 _"Do you want to sleep with me?" the boy offered._

 _They shared the room but it was always exciting and calming for them to snuggle in one bed together. They often do that at time like these. When their parents were upset and fighting. It gave both of them the feeling of security. And that was what Tetsuya needed right then._

 _The younger twin slipped under Nagisa's blanket and squeezed the sleeve of his brother's pajama. Nagisa lied next to him giving him a smile._

 _"Good night, Tetsu."_

 _"Good night, nee-chan."_

 _Nagisa wanted to close his eyes and fall asleep right at that moment yet he preserved watching his brother to do that first._

* * *

Nagisa didn't like the way Karma was looking at him. He locked his eyes on his face and was munching the chips like he was watching some movie in television. Maybe he did that on purpose, Nagisa wasn't really sure. He decided to ignore that and continued.

"I think that I was more perceiving about my surroundings than my brother. He was an innocent type. But, on the other hand, Tetsuya was more affected by our parents' disagreements. When he was disturbed he would always come to me to be consoled. And I was always trying to play the role of big brother. But..." Nagisa snorted.

"You was fed up with it," Karma finished for him.

"I wanted to be a good brother. But after our parents made up their mind about the divorce, the hell started. I know that you think that my mother is a terrible person but she was caring. She would make me wear dress and sometimes shout at me, but she wouldn't physically abuse me. There were only two times when she was dangerous even in that way," he sighed changing the subject to his mother instead of his brother.

Karma understood that he didn't prepared mentally for that yet. He let him go in his own pace.

"Once when you ended in Class E?" he guessed.

"Yeah," the bluenette confirmed.

"The other time it was during that divorce."

* * *

 _"You have so pretty hair~. They are finally long enough to be braided. And I bet you will look reaaaally lovely in those new dress!" his mother purred into his ear while combing his hair._

 _He didn't dare to speak. The air was heavy and his mother was clearly pissed. Whenever she had an awfully foul mood she would drag him into her room, comb his hair and dress him up taking pictures._

 _He let her do what she wanted. He knew well when was for the best to comply. She would just yell at him and pull at his hair screaming how ungrateful he was if he protested. He could survive doing this. He was used to it after all. But it didn't bring him joy._

 _Hiromi dressed her son in pink-violet dress with lace and bows and braided ribbons into his hair. After everything was done she eyed her work, took a picture and hugged her child almost suffocating him._

 _"You are so cute! I really love you, Nagisa," she said sweetly not willing to release him just yet._

 _"Say, Nagisa," the ominous feeling she gave off was getting stronger, "you are a good girl, right? You want to stay with your mommy, right? You will stay with me forever."_

 _Her tone was the one Nagisa knew better than to defy._

 _"Yes, mommy." His answer satisfied her._

* * *

"You are really trying my patience here." Karma commented throwing away an empty pack.

"You are supposed to talk about your brother. I can easily guess reactions of your mother to that situation."

Nagisa made a grumpy face. "I wanted to tell you the whole story."

"You are just babbling about unimportant stuff to avoid the juicy new pieces of information."

The bluenette gritted his teeth. "I apologize. Am I boring you? Is my traumatizing past not interesting enough?" he growled.

"For God's sake," the redhead rolled his eyes, leaned forward and smacked his friend across his head.

"Aren't you long past your mother's issues? Don't be a drama queen, you are not Bitch-sensei. Just get to the root of your problem with your brother. It's pointless in me being here otherwise. What are you even afraid of? Is your brother scarier than Takaoka? Than the chairman? Than the Reaper? Get it together Mr. Number-one-End-Class-assassin!"

A shock was apparent on Nagisa's face. Karma hardly ever pushed him before. It was unusual for him to run out of patience. But it really did help Nagisa to get through his mental block. Karma just knew which buttons he should push.

"I hated him," the bluenette admitted.

"I came to hate him. I envied him. I knew that I was bad big brother to have emotions like that. But there was no helping it. I couln't get rid of those thoughts. Why me? Why did mother only make me to dress in girl's clothes? I had to think about it again and again. What made us different? And why was I the one who had to endure it? Why was he so childish and innocent? Why didn't he see what was bothering me? Why could he smile so brightly when I was suffocating? Why couldn't he leave me alone? After a while I started thinking about how it would be better if he never existed."

* * *

 _He had enough. He couldn't take anymore. He hated it. He hated those stupid clothes, he hated the way his mother was treating him, he hated how cowardly his father acted, he hated those boys that picked on him and most of all, he hated his brother._

 _Why was he always like that? He was so clueless that it pissed Nagisa off. The best he could do was grab his brother's sleeve and wait for him to console him. He was tired of it. Why couldn't he take care of him himself and leave Nagisa alone? He was fed up with being with him all day long._

 _But the worst thing was the way Tetsuya called him. Their mother made sure to teach Tetsuya call Nagisa nee-chan. She made sure to get into the boy's head that Nagisa was his older sister. And even after the talk with their father, Tetsuya still referred to Nagisa in that way. It was a habit. One that irritated the older twin. Every time he heard that word it hit him hard as a hammer._

 _That day it was especially bad. Their parents argued more and more every passing day. The more they argued the more Tetsuya was affected by it. And Nagisa have to comfort him. And after each fight their mother made sure to have the talk with Nagisa. She would pamper him even more than before and made him promise her to stay her cute little daughter forever. And then there were bullies._

 _That day they pulled his hair and threw the color at him. They ruined his clothes and the whole thing was even more humiliating when the teacher got involved. Nagisa couldn't handle that pitiful look she would always give him. She meant well, but it only hurt the boy more._

 _He was now sitting at the same table as his brother watching him draw. Unlike Nagisa, he looked like he had no worry in the world. It pissed the older twin to no end. Why was he making so happy and peaceful expression?_

 _The bluenette glanced toward the boys that were bullying him. Their punishment time was over and now they were playing with cars. He didn't like them and yet he wished he could play with them. He clenched his little hands into fists and then relaxed._

 _He grabbed color paper and drew a flower. Then he took scissors and cut the flower out. He hoped that it would divert his attention from his problems. But it didn't help. He didn't want to draw with his brother. He wanted to fool around with other boys._

 _"Tetsu," he spoke playing with his paper flower._

 _"Nee-chan?" his brother answered._

 _Nagisa bit his lip. Why? Why did he have to call him that? He hated it. Tetsuya knew that it was the way how to call a sister and he knew that Nagisa wasn't his sister. He was a boy. He should at least call him nii-chan. Was it that hard? Why didn't he understand? Why was he making everything even worse?_

 _"Don't do it! It's a shame. That flower was so pretty."_

 _Only after his brother's words did Nagisa realized that he was taking his anger out on that paper flower. But he didn't care, he continued ripping it into shreds. His breath was accelerating and his anger rising. Why did he call out to his brother?_

 _"What's wrong, nee-chan?"_

 _And again! He called him that AGAIN. Why was he doing that? Didn't he see that he hated that?! Maybe Nagisa should have told him. But he should have realized either way! He should know better. He should know the difference. He should support him. Why didn't he support him? Nagisa was always there for him. Why couldn't Tetsuya do the same? Why couldn't he be different? Why couldn't he be just like Nagisa?_

 _"Nee-chan, nee-chan, nee-chan...can you finally stop it?" Nagisa snapped._

 _It was so rare for him. It was almost unheard of. But he had enough. Bullies, his mom, his dad, his brother. He just had enough of them all._

 _If only everything was different. If only Nagisa wasn't born first. If only their mother set her eyes on Tetsuya. If only their father wasn't such a coward. If only their mother wasn't nuts. If only...Tetsuya was never born. He was a reminder for Nagisa. Reminder of what he could be. Reminder of what he couldn't be. Tetsuya was free. And Nagisa hated him for that. If only..._

 _Nagisa didn't even know when but at one moment he was sitting on the chair ripping the flower apart and suddenly he stood with scissors in his hand aiming at brother. He somehow hit his twin's shoulder. It was weird feeling, but it felt natural for Nagisa. And somehow satisfying._

 _"Why don't you disappear?"_

 _If only his brother disappeared._

* * *

The room fell into silence. Nagisa was too busy with staring at his bare hands and Karma with processing the info.

"So... you got frustrated and stabbed him," he spoke after a minute.

"Yeah," Nagisa confirmed in a whisper.

"That was it? Nothing else? You stabbed him with scissors. So what?"

Nagisa's eyebrow twitched. He raised his head to look at his friend. He looked pretty much bored.

"So what?! I just told you that I stabbed my brother. And that is your reaction? Shouldn't you freak out? At least a little bit?" the bluenette frowned confused by the Karma's lack of reaction.

"Last year I saw you take out a trained soldier. What's more, you beat him twice. We stood against the Reaper, trained mercenaries, each other and you killed a mutated octopoid superbeing. Besides, we have been friends for almost four years now. You became friends with me even after you saw me beat a crap out of countless guys and then torturing them by sticking wasabi up their noses. And I know about your crazy mom. Dude, it was clear to me a long time ago that you are batshit crazy. And I caused some people bigger wounds then you with tiny little scissors," the redhead laughed.

Nagisa couln't believe him. Tetsuya, the other kids, their teacher and even their own father were horrified by what he did. Tetsuya started tremble every time he saw him and his father had a change of mind about having him in his custody. And Karma? He just laughed. Well, he should have known.

"So," his friend calmed himself down a bit looking serious once more, "what do you feel about your brother now? Do you still hate him?"

Nagisa didn't have to think about it long. He had already confronted his feeling about his twin.

"I do. Those feeling just won't change that easily. During those years I managed to forget about him. It was as if he really did disappear. But now he is back. And I just can't stand it."

Karma nodded understanding these feelings. He thought it was strange how Nagisa's hatred was aimed at his brother instead of mother, but it was not his job to change it. He wouldn't be able to change it even if he wanted to.

"And what are you going to do now that he is back?"

* * *

"What am I going to do?"

Nagisa was walking circles in the living room deep in thought. It was the middle of night, hours after Karma left. His last question was still haunting the bluenette. He had no idea what he was going to do. Was there even something he could do?

He paced to the kitchen his attention drawed by the kitchen knifes. He took one, flashback of a similar night a year ago floating in his mind. A knife in his hand calmed him down and Nagisa made a posture as if he was preparing for a battle. He slashed the air with his knife remembering very well his training in the End Class. A joy erupted inside him. His fingers were tingling. And suddenly he had his answer. A smile spread across his lips.

He was an assassin. He was and he would always be. And right now there was an existence he wished to erase. He had a new target.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the loooong wait, but chapter 5 is finally here!**

 **Meiyo12, Akashi Seiko-chan, thanks for the review! ^^**

* * *

 **5\. Chapter:**

 **The one with the first attempt**

* * *

"He really thought of everything," the bluenette smiled dryly.

On the desk in front of him was his guidebook from Koro-sensei. The boy was flipping the pages counting how many of them gave the advice at becoming an assassin or simply murdering someone. Of course, most of it was about talking him out of it, giving reasonable points about why it was not suited for him or stating examples about negative impacts it could have on his life. It covered everything, emotional impact on himself as well as problems with law.

Yet, in the end, it stated clearly that even if his former teacher was against him choosing that kind of path, if Nagisa himself gave a deep thought about it and even after considering everything written until now he did choose that path for himself, he would have Koro-sensei's full support. After that there were actually important lessons about assassination.

Nagisa only wondered how much of his future the octopus predicted. The boy himself had told him that he wouldn't become an assassin and yet the superbeing wrote almost two hundred pages about the topic.

Nagisa closed the book and lied his head atop it thinking about everything he had read. He just had to do it. His instincts were screaming at him, his heart racing in excitement and his lips were twitching into delirious smile. He had to give in, he would go mad otherwise. Besides, he couldn't stand the thought of Tetsuya being somewhere out there.

'Don't be hasty, think about what you has read,' the bluenette scolded himself and opened the book again.

He couldn't do things halfheartedly. He was more than set on going through with it, but he wanted to listen to his teacher and his advice. He looked up to him. There was no way that he would ignore all that he had to say to that matter.

* * *

"Four. Days."

Kuroko shivered under the look Riko Aida gave him. The girl's voice was calm and she wore a smile on her face. But there was no way that would fool the boy. She was angry. No, she was raging. There was no way he would get out of this unscathed. He actually skipped practice for four whole days. He was pretty much a dead man.

"So? Do you have any excuse?"

She was ruthless when it came to practice. But if he had a really good explanation, she would let him off the hook. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

"I do not," he admitted. "I'm really sorry."

The girl's face turned red in rage. Kuroko feared the worst. And it surely came to that. Riko Aida was dangerous when angry. A man twice her size would start tremble once she raised her voice. But she wasn't the scariest while shouting, but the exact opposite.

"Oh, you will be. Very well. You first years surely give your coach a hard time. Since you missed four days worth of practice I suppose you don't mind working four times harder than the others today. You have no complaints, right?" her words were sweet but her expression didn't match them. Riko would kill with her glare if she could.

Kuroko gulped. The practice was already hard as it was. There was no way for him to survive training four times that hard. But he would have to be mad to complain. He shot a glance at his teammates wishing that at least one of them would be stupid enough to come to his rescue. Not that he didn't realize that it was just a pipe's dream.

Hyuuga and the others watched the ordeal with pitty in their eyes. They knew how ruthless Riko was and they wished they had enough courage to stood up to her. But, in the end, the only thing they were capable of doing was praying for Kuroko's survival. Well, except one Iron Heart.

"Give him a break, Riko," Teppei Kiyoshi smiled kindly, not intimidated by the girl's glare at all.

"Kuroko is a diligent kid. I'm sure there is a good reason to why he didn't come. Besides, he wasn't neglecting practice. I saw him yesterday training on one basketball court. Can you forgive him just this once?" he smiled kindly at the girl who gave him an annoyed look.

"Just this once," she murmured after a while and turned her back at the players.

The eyes of admiration fell on Kiyoshi's figure. All of his teammates thought at the same time: 'What an amazing person!'

* * *

"Thank you very much," Kuroko tried to bow to the older boy almost tripping and falling to the ground.

"Don't bow while running! You are gonna fall and hurt yourself. And don't sweat it. It's a given that I would want to protect my teammate and underclassman," Kiyoshi smiled and continued in running.

"But are you feeling alright? We've just begun running but your face is already red," he looked at him worriedly.

"Don't worry, I'm always like this. I will be much better after throwing up," the bluenette murmured.

"Woah! Are you feeling that sick?! Do I call the coach? Should I-"

"Please, don't panic, that was a joke," Tetsuya ensured him not cracking his poker face.

The taller boy sighed in relief. "Thanks God! But, please, don't joke anymore. You have no sense of humor."

The redfaced boy bowed his head apologetically. "I'm sorry. I thought I would try it once. It seems that I failed."

„I told you not to bow while running!"

After that both of them fell silent, trying to focus on running. Yet the older boy's eyes kept following the smaller one. He didn't know him that well or long but even he could tell that Kuroko was bothered with something.

* * *

„Hello?"

„DO NOT HELLO ME! FOUR DAYS! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOUR AND KARMA'S PHONES?!"

Nagisa pulled his phone away from his ear and glared at Rio's name written on the screen. He should know better than to ignore her. He waited for her little rattle to cease down and then he closed the distanced between his ear and the phone.

„Sorry. I just wasn't in the mood to talk," he apologised.

A sigh was heard from the other side before a lot calmer „Are you alright?".

„Perfectly," he answered.

„Wanna go grab some ice cream or crépe? I'm with Kise now. He says he is paying," she offered and Nagisa had to chuckle after hearing Kise complaining on the other side.

„Thanks, but no. I'm not home now and have no idea when I get back," he declined.

„And where are you know?"

The bluenette looked up at the new school building and then his eyes locked at the sign informing him, that he stood outside Seirin High school.

„Just out for a little visit."

* * *

„Okey, wimps. Take ten," Riko whistled and the boys fell to the floor exhausted.

„Is it just me or she took out her anger on all of us instead of just Kuroko?" Koganei grumbled toward Mitobe who just nodded.

„Gotta go to toilet," Kiyoshi said to no one in particular just to let the others know where he was going to disappear to and left the gym with Nigo at his heels.

„You coming with me, little one?" he smiled at the puppy and let him follow him.

It wasn't like Kuroko cared where his dog wandered to as long as he was somewhere near one of his teammates. The dog wouldn't run away from them. And it was quite usual that Nigo would follow one of them to the toilet, wait for them outside and then accompany them back. With that in mind Kiyoshi didn't qualms leaving the puppy outside alone. But once he came back, the dog was nowhere to be found.

* * *

„Hi puppy! You are so cute! What is this? A basketball uniform? Are you a player?"

Nagisa kneeled down and offered his hand to the little dog to sniff. After doing so, the puppy in basketball uniform licked his hand and allowed him to pet him.

„What are you doing wandering here all alone? Did you run away, 16?" The bluenette asked the puppy naming it temporarily after the number on the uniform.

„It's your lucky day. I'm actually looking for the basketball team, so I will take you to them. That or we will be lost together," he giggled and took the puppy into his embrace.

He walked together with the dog, petting his head and looking around. He had no idea where he was going but he was sure about two things. One, the basketball club was without a doubt in the school. Two, there is no way he wouldn't find a gym.

* * *

„Nigo!" Kiyoshi shouted a worried look starting to form on his face.

After the dog didn't appear in the following few minutes, he started to search for him. He never thought that the puppy would run away.

There was no way he would return back without Nigo. How would he explain to Kuroko? The boy had a good heart, he wouldn't blame him, he knew that, yet he decided not to face him until he found his dog.

Suddenly, he heard a bark. His eyes glittered with hope and he ran toward where the bark came from. Once he turned the corned he stood in front a small figure which was holding Kuroko's pet.

The petite girl, he assumed, was dressed in simple short pants with light-yellow T-shirt and wore a cap from underneath which strands of blue hair was showing.

„Oh, hello! Is this your dog?" the person asked looking up the big boy revealing his azure eyes and unbelievably familiar face.

Kiyoshi stood in a daze for a while. He swore that Kuroko stayed in the gym with the others. It took him a while to realize that this person was not his teammate.

„Eh, not really. He is my teammate's," he smiled sheepishly scratching the back of his head.

„Oh, then I guess he will be better of with you, since you can bring him to his owner," the Kuroko-look-alike beamed and handed the puppy to Kiyoshi.

„Thanks," the bigger boy bowed his head and then took the dog. „You gave me a scare, Nigo!"

The bluenette chuckled. „So I was off by 14."

Kiyoshi made a confused expression but didn't question the meaning of that sentence.

„Well, thank you. I owe you," he bowed slightly again.

„Uh," the person before him gave him a shy look and a gentle smile, „you are from the basketball club, right? Then, would you mind showing me where I can find your team?"

The Iron Heart smiled at him. „Sure! Come with me. Oh, I'm Teppei Kiyoshi, by the way," he introduced himself and put the dog on the ground.

„I'm Nagisa. Nagisa Shiota. Nice to meet you!"

* * *

„How long does it take for you guys to take a pee?" Riko glared at the boys and then cursed Kiyoshi.

„Koganei! Go look for him!" she commanded but before Koganei could comply, Kiyoshi walked into the gym.

„Finally! You took forever!" Riko hissed.

„Sorry. Well, I was..." the boy scrached his head trying to find out the right words to explain.

„I'm sorry, it's my fault. I got lost and Kiyoshi was kind enough to show me the way," a sweet voice spoke and everyone directed their attention toward the petite-looking person beside the Iron Heart.

„I've got this _Déjà vu._ I didn't notice that person," Furihata whispered to his friends.

The little person beside their teammate took off his cap and his long blue hair fell to his shoulders.

Words like „What a cutie!" and „Wait! That face!" could be heard among the Seirin players as they all stared at the petite bluenette in shock. Except for two of them.

„What the hell?" Kagami's low voice shut them all up. They looked at their ace with wide eyes once they noticed the rage behind his. „What the hell are you doing here?!"

„Kagami!" Hyuuga tried to grab the boy before he stormed over to the bluenette yet in vain.

The redhead made a move to grab the unknown person by the shirt but he never got a chance to do so. A clap sounded and resonated in the gym and Kagami froze on the spot. Everyone else just stared pretty much speechless.

„How rude," the bluenette backed away from Kagami to the safe distance and then scanned the shocked looks on the faces of the Seirin's players. He stopped at the one which mirrorred a hint of fear.

„Tetsu, can I talk with you? Privately," he smiled cutely.

* * *

The two bluenettes were walking outside underneath merciless sun. It was hot, yet shivers ran up Tetsuya's spine. He was much more calmer then before yet kept staring at the back of Nagisa's head who was walking in front of him.

None of them said a word ever since they left the gym. Tetsuya just followed Nagisa with Nigo at his heels. He was really grateful for the little dog's company. After walking for a few minutes, Nagisa stopped.

„How is father doing?" he asked not looking at his mirror image.

„He is doing alright," Tetsuya answered with monotone voice. „He remarried," he added after a moment.

„I see. Good for him. And you too," Nagisa said, a hint of bitterness in his words.

„Mother is seeing someone. But her relationships never last, so..." the older brother finally turned and locked his eyes with his brother's.

„Tetsu, are you afraid of me?" he questioned after the phantom averted his eyes.

A silence felt before a single „yes" was uttered. Tetsuya kept staring at the dog running around them and Nagisa kept staring at him. After a while, he sighed.

„I hate you," the older admitted.

The eyes of the other bluenette grew wide from shock. Nagisa suspected that Tetsuya figured that out a long time ago, yet hearing Nagisa saying it aloud was something totally different.

„Do you hate me?" Nagisa continued with another question.

„No," the younger twin shook his head. „I never felt any kind of resentment towards you."

Nagisa smiled. The fact that his brother didn't hate him for what he did brought a bizarre kind of relief to him. Did it actually bother him for all these years? He hid his hand inside his pocket and walked slowly toward Tetsuya.

His twin stayed glued to the place not lifting his gaze towards his twin. He would have probably stayed there without movement if not be it for a strange feeling he suddenly got from his brother. He stepped back and quickly tilted his head aside just in time to avoid the blade of Nagisa's pocket knife.

„Good reflexes," Nagisa praised him.

„That...was not it. I just thought you might do something like this," Tetsuya said, his voice calm, but his breaths labored.

„I see."

„You wanted to kill me," it was not a question.

„I did," the older twin admitted. „I can no longer pretend like you don't exist. And I can't stand you being alive."

It hurt. It damn hurt. Never did Tetsuya gave someone a look with so much frustration and pain behind his eyes. Never did he gave someone a look that full with emotions.

„Will you be alright with murdering someone? Murdering me?"

Nagisa hid the knife into his pocket and smiled at him. „I changed. I'm an assassin. And you are my target now," he stepped back and began to turn away. „Consider this to be the first attempt. Or maybe the second one. Let's have a fun assassination from now on," with that he walked away.

* * *

„Where the hell are they?" Kagami growled and kicked the nearby trash bin.

It brought him no relieve whatsoever and he had no time to slow down and pick up trash he just spilled. How could he freze like that back then? How could he let Kuroko go alone with his brother? He was not the one to judge people without knowing them first but from what Kuroko and the feeling his gut told him, that kid must have been a total psycho. He didn't care about the fact that that little incident happened so long time ago. Kuroko was still fraightened of him and if the boy was still living with that sick mother of theirs...

„Kuroko!" the redhead finally found his teammate.

The bluenette was sitting below a sakura tree, petting his dog while looking into nowhere in particular.

„Oh, Kagami," he looked at him after hearing his voice. „I'm sorry. I will return to training at once," he spoke with his usual monotone voice and poker face.

„Forget about that. Where is that bastard? What did he do to you?" the Seirin's ace grabbed his teammate's shoulders and shook him.

„He left. He didn't do anything. We just talked. I'm sorry for worrying you," he bowed his head.

Kagami paused and studied his face, yet he couldn't say what his friend was thinking at all.

„You really alright?" he asked a lot calmer.

There was a long pause before the boy shook his head. „Not really," he admitted.

Before Kagami could question him about it he shushed him with a slight punch to the shoulder and stood up.

„He really changed," he sighed while walking back to the gym.

„Or not. I don't really think that's the case."

Kagami looked at him in confusion yet said nothing. He was not that dumb to realize that the bluenette was not talking to him. It seemed that however unprobable it was, Kuroko had one of those moment where he just needed to voice his thoughts, even though it was completely out of his character.

„Instead of changing, I think he was able to free himself. He is himself, at last."

In spite of what it meant for him, that he had become a target of an assassin, he couldn't help himself but just feel a pure happiness for his twin. Nagisa was no longer bound by their mother.


End file.
